Semiconductor device with self-aligned carbon nanotube gate

ABSTRACT

A method of forming a semiconductor device includes forming a channel layer on a substrate. A gate dielectric is deposited on the channel layer, and a mask is patterned on the gate dielectric. An exposed portion of the gate dielectric is removed to expose a first source/drain region and a second source/drain region of the channel layer. A first source/drain contact is formed on the first source/drain region and a second source/drain contact is formed on the second source/drain region. A cap layer is formed over the first source/drain contact and the second source/drain contact, and the mask is removed. Spacers are formed adjacent to sidewalls of the first source/drain contact and the second source/drain contact. An oxide region is formed in the cap layer and a carbon material is deposited on an exposed portion of the gate dielectric.

DOMESTIC PRIORITY

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/277,291, filed Sep. 27, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporatedby reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to field-effect transistors. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to field-effect transistorswith self-aligned carbon nanotube gates.

Transistor scaling over the past few decades has brought about somebenefits in terms of device performance and effective cost. For example,the transistor operating frequency (e.g., cut-off frequency) can beincreased by scaling down the gate/channel length, which satisfies thedemand of making transistors that can be operated at high frequency forvarious applications.

Due to lithography process limitations, reducing a gate length in afield effect transistor down to the size of a few nanometers can presenta challenge. Dimensional limits control the size of circuit elementsused in a semiconductor chip, and thus how many circuits can be formedin a given amount of real estate (circuit density). This in turn affectsthe cost of integrated circuits as well as the speed at which thecircuits can operate and how much power is needed to operate anintegrated device.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method of forminga semiconductor device includes forming a channel layer on a substrate.A gate dielectric is deposited on the channel layer, and a mask ispatterned on the gate dielectric. An exposed portion of the gatedielectric is removed to expose a first source/drain region and a secondsource/drain region of the channel layer. A first source/drain contactis formed on the first source/drain region and a second source/draincontact is formed on the second source/drain region. A cap layer isformed over the first source/drain contact and the second source/draincontact, and the mask is removed. Spacers are formed adjacent tosidewalls of the first source/drain contact and the second source/draincontact. An oxide region is formed in the cap layer and a carbonmaterial is deposited on an exposed portion of the gate dielectric.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method offorming a semiconductor device includes forming a channel layer on asubstrate. A gate dielectric is deposited on the channel layer. Anexposed portion of the gate dielectric is removed to expose a firstsource/drain region and a second source/drain region of the channellayer. A first source/drain contact is formed on the first source/drainregion and a second source/drain contact is formed on the secondsource/drain region. A cap layer is formed over the first source/draincontact and the second source/drain contact. Spacers are formed adjacentto sidewalls of the first source/drain contact and the secondsource/drain contact. A carbon material is deposited on an exposedportion of the gate dielectric.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method offorming a semiconductor device includes forming a channel layer on asubstrate. A gate dielectric is deposited on the channel layer and amask is patterned on the gate dielectric. An exposed portion of the gatedielectric is removed to expose a first source/drain region and a secondsource/drain region of the channel layer. A first source/drain contactis formed on the first source/drain region and a second source/draincontact is formed on the second source/drain region. A cap layer isformed over the first source/drain contact and the second source/draincontact, and the mask is removed. Spacers are formed adjacent tosidewalls of the first source/drain contact and the second source/draincontact. An oxide region is formed in a portion of the cap layer and acarbon material is deposited on an exposed portion of the gatedielectric.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, asemiconductor device includes a gate arranged on a substrate, the gateincludes a dielectric layer and a carbon material arranged on thedielectric layer. A source/drain region is arranged on the substrate,the source/drain region includes a doped semiconductor region. Spacersare arranged on the dielectric layer, the spacers are arranged alongopposing sidewalls of a source/drain contact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a side view of a substrate and a semiconductor channelmaterial layer arranged on the substrate;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view following the formation of a gatedielectric layer deposited on the channel material layer;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view following a lithographic patterning andetching process that patterns a mask over portions of the gatedielectric;

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the structure after forming asource/drain contact on the channel material layer and depositing a capon the source/drain contact within cavities utilizing a photoresistmask;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view after the photoresist mask is removedusing a liftoff process;

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view after a layer of spacer material isdeposited on the exposed portions of the gate dielectric, thesource/drain contacts, and the caps;

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view of the structure following theperformance of an etching process to remove portions of the layer ofspacer material to form the sidewall spacers;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view following an oxidation process on thecaps;

FIG. 9 illustrates a side view of the structure following the depositingof a chemically self-assembled carbon nanotube (CNT) on the exposedportions of the gate dielectric;

FIG. 10 illustrates a side view following the formation of aninter-level dielectric layer over the CNT, spacers, the oxidizedregions, and the exposed portions of the gate dielectric;

FIG. 11 illustrates a side view following the removal of portions of theinter-level dielectric layer to form cavities that expose portions ofthe source/drain contacts; and

FIG. 12 illustrates a side view of the structure following thedeposition of a conductive material in the cavities to form conductivecontacts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Due to lithography process limitations, reducing the gate length to afew nanometers can be challenging. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be sortedand separated according to their physical properties such as differentdiameters and metallic or semiconducting properties. Besidesconventional applications as the channel material for transistors, CNTscould also be used as the gate electrode. Chemically self-assembledcarbon nanotubes can be used as gate electrodes for field-effecttransistors to achieve ultra-short gate lengths as the diameter of acarbon nanotube can be as small as ˜1 nm. Therefore, field-effecttransistors with ultra-short gate length can be made that have a highcut-off frequency.

FIGS. 1-12 illustrate an exemplary method for forming an exemplarysemiconductor device.

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a substrate 102 and a semiconductorchannel material layer (active layer) 104 arranged on the substrate 102.

Non-limiting examples of suitable materials for the substrate 102 and/orthe semiconductor channel material layer 104 include Si (silicon),strained Si, SiC (silicon carbide), Ge (germanium), SiGe (silicongermanium), SiGeC (silicon-germanium-carbon), Si alloys, Ge alloys,III-V materials (e.g., GaAs (gallium arsenide), InAs (indium arsenide),InP (indium phosphide), or aluminum arsenide (AlAs)), II-VI materials(e.g., CdSe (cadmium selenide), CdS (cadmium sulfide), CdTe (cadmiumtelluride), ZnO (zinc oxide), ZnSe (zinc selenide), ZnS (zinc sulfide),or ZnTe (zinc telluride)), or any combination thereof. Othernon-limiting examples of semiconductor substrate and channel materiallayer include III-V materials, for example, indium phosphide (InP),gallium arsenide (GaAs), aluminum arsenide (AlAs), or any combinationthereof. The III-V materials can include at least one “III element,”such as aluminum (Al), boron (B), gallium (Ga), indium (In), and atleast one “V element,” such as nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), arsenic(As), antimony (Sb).

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view following the formation of a gatedielectric layer (e.g., high-K dielectric) 206 deposited on the channelmaterial layer 104. Any composition and manner of forming the gatedielectric 206 can be utilized. In some embodiments, the gate dielectric206 is conformally formed over exposed portions of the channel materiallayer 104 (“conformal” as used herein means that the thickness of thegate dielectric 206 is substantially the same on all surfaces, or thatthe thickness variation is less than 15% of the nominal thickness). Insome embodiments, the gate dielectric 206 is HfO₂.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view following a lithographic patterning andetching process that patterns a mask 308 over portions of the gatedielectric 206. Following the patterning of the mask 308, a selectiveetching process is performed that removes exposed portions of the gatedielectric 206 and exposes portions of the channel material layer 104.The etching process can include, for example, reactive ion etching. Insome embodiments, the exposed channel material layer 104 in the cavities302 can be doped to serve as source/drain regions 310, for example, byion implantation with n-type dopants (e.g., phosphorus or arsenic) orp-type dopants (e.g., boron or gallium), depending on the type oftransistor.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the structure 100 after formingsource/drain contacts 410 on the source/drain regions 310 and depositinga cap 412 on the source/drain contact 410 within the cavities 302utilizing the photoresist (PR) mask. For ease of illustration anddiscussion, two source/drain contacts 410 are shown. In the illustratedexample, the cap 412 is a polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon)material. Any manner of forming the source/drain contacts 410 can beutilized. In some embodiments, the source/drain contacts are formedusing physical vapor deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition(CVD). In some embodiments, the source/drain contacts are epitaxiallygrown on the on the channel material layer 104. In some embodiments, thesource/drain regions 310 is epitaxially grown on the substrate 102.Epitaxial materials can be grown from gaseous or liquid precursors.Epitaxial materials can be grown using vapor-phase epitaxy (VPE),molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE), or othersuitable process. Epitaxial silicon, silicon germanium, and/or carbondoped silicon (Si:C) silicon can be doped during deposition (in-situdoped) by adding dopants, n-type dopants (e.g., phosphorus or arsenic)or p-type dopants (e.g., boron or gallium), depending on the type oftransistor.

The source/drain region 310 can be any suitable material, such as, forexample, Si, SiGe, Group III-V channel material, or other suitablechannel materials. Group III-V channel materials include materialshaving at least one group III element and at least one group V element,such as, for example, one or more of aluminum gallium arsenide, aluminumgallium nitride, aluminum arsenide, aluminum indium arsenide, aluminumnitride, gallium antimonide, gallium aluminum antimonide, galliumarsenide, gallium arsenide antimonide, gallium nitride, indiumantimonide, indium arsenide, indium gallium arsenide, indium galliumarsenide phosphide, indium gallium nitride, indium nitride, indiumphosphide and alloy combinations including at least one of the foregoingmaterials.

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view after the photoresist mask is removedalong with the portions of source drain contacts 410 and the cap 412stacks on top of it. The photoresist mask can be removed by, forexample, a liftoff process. The liftoff process can be performed usingsolvents, for example acetone.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view after a layer of spacer material 602 isdeposited on the exposed portions of the gate dielectric 206, thesource/drain contacts 410, and the caps 412. In the illustrated example,the layer of spacer material 602 is SiO₂ and is conformally deposited.However, in some embodiments, the layer of spacer material 602 can beany suitable material such as, for example, dielectric nitrides (e.g.,silicon nitride), dielectric oxynitrides, SiBCN, SiOCN, SiOC, dielectricoxides (e.g., silicon oxide), or any combination thereof.

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view of the structure 100 following theperformance of an etching process to remove portions of the layer ofspacer material 602 to form the sidewall spacers 702. Any suitableanisotropic etching process can be used such as, for example, a reactiveion etching process. In some embodiments, an etch process, which can bea wet etch process, a dry etch process or a combination thereof, isutilized. In some embodiments, the etch process is a series ofdirectional etches (e.g., RIEs) having an etch selective to the gatedielectric 206 and the caps 412. Thisetch reveals a pre-defined trench704 between two of the sidewall spacers 702. The pre-defined trench 704and the two sidewall spacers 702 cover the channel length 306.

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view following an oxidation process on thecaps 412. The illustrated example shows the oxidized regions 802 asbeing fully oxidized, however, the oxidized regions 802 can be partiallyoxidized.

FIG. 9 illustrates a side view of the structure 100 following thedepositing of a chemically self-assembled carbon nanotube (CNT) 902 onthe exposed portions of the gate dielectric 206. In the illustratedexample, multiple CNTs are formed on the exposed portions of the gatedielectric in between the spacers 702. The spacers 702 allow for thedepositing of the CNTs to be self-aligned within the pre-defined trench704. Additional etching can remove any unnecessary CNTs. In thechemically self-assembly process, CNTs can be wrapped with a positivelycharged polymer, while the exposed gate dielectric 206 can be treatedwith a negatively charged monolayer that selectively bonds to gatedielectric 206 surface but not to the spacers 702 surface. Thechemically self-assembly process is accomplished by electrostaticattraction force between the oppositely charged gate dielectric 206 andCNTs. In some embodiments, the gate dielectric is HfO₂ or Al₂O₃, and thespacers are SiO₂. The HfO₂ or Al₂O₃ is negatively charged and the CNT ispositively charged.

The dimension of the defined trench 704 can be engineered so that asingle nanotube can be placed inside the trench as the gate electrode.If multiple nanotubes are placed inside the trench, they can be operatedcollectively as a single gate or operated separately as multiple gates.

After the self-assembly of the carbon nanotube inside the trench 704,the nanotube can be electrically connected to a gate contact fromoutside the channel region using another step of lithography andmetallization (not shown).

FIG. 10 illustrates a side view following the formation of aninter-level dielectric layer 1002 over the CNT 902, spacers 702, theoxidized regions 802, and the exposed portions of the gate dielectric206.

The inter-level dielectric layer 1002 is formed from, for example, alow-k dielectric material (with k<4.0), including but not limited to,silicon oxide, spin-on-glass, a flowable oxide, a high density plasmaoxide, borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG), or any combination thereof. Theinter-level dielectric layer 1002 is deposited by a deposition process,including, but not limited to CVD, PVD, plasma enhanced CVD, atomiclayer deposition (ALD), evaporation, chemical solution deposition, orlike processes. Following the deposition of the inter-level dielectriclayer 1002, a planarization process such as, for example, chemicalmechanical polishing is performed.

FIG. 11 illustrates a side view following the removal of portions of theinter-level dielectric layer 1002 to form cavities 1102 that exposeportions of the source/drain contacts 410. The cavities 1102 can beformed by, for example, a photolithographic patterning and etchingprocess such as reactive ion etching.

FIG. 12 illustrates a side view of the structure 100 following thedeposition of a conductive material in the cavities 1102 to formconductive contacts 1202. The conductive contacts 1202 can be formed by,for example, depositing a layer of conductive material in the cavities1102 and performing a planarization process such as chemical mechanicalpolishing to form the conductive contacts 1202.

The conductive material can include any suitable conductive materialincluding, for example, polycrystalline or amorphous silicon, germanium,silicon germanium, a metal (e.g., tungsten, titanium, tantalum,ruthenium, zirconium, cobalt, copper, aluminum, lead, platinum, tin,silver, gold), a conducting metallic compound material (e.g., tantalumnitride, titanium nitride, tantalum carbide, titanium carbide, titaniumaluminum carbide, tungsten silicide, tungsten nitride, ruthenium oxide,cobalt silicide, nickel silicide), carbon nanotube, conductive carbon,graphene, or any suitable combination of these materials. The conductivematerial can further include dopants that are incorporated during orafter deposition.

In some embodiments, silicide regions (not shown) can be formed on thesemiconductor regions under source/drain contacts 410. The silicide canbe formed by, for example, depositing a metallic material as thesource/drain contacts 410, and performing an annealing process thatforms the silicide regions.

Technical benefits of the present invention include using chemicallyself-assembled carbon nanotubes as a gate electrode for field effecttransistors, which can be made with various channel materials. A gatelength is determined by the diameter of the carbon nanotube which can beas small as ˜1 nm. This dimensional scale can hardly be achieved byconventional lithography. The self-aligned nature of the carbonnanotubes can allow for transistors with ultra-short gate lengths and,thus, a greater cut-off frequency can be expected.

As used herein, the terms “invention” or “present invention” arenon-limiting terms and not intended to refer to any single aspect of theparticular invention but encompass all possible aspects as described inthe specification and the claims. The term “on” can refer to an elementthat is on, above or in contact with another element or featuredescribed in the specification and/or illustrated in the figures.

As used herein, the term “about” modifying the quantity of aningredient, component, or reactant of the invention employed refers tovariation in the numerical quantity that can occur, for example, throughtypical measuring and liquid handling procedures used for makingconcentrates or solutions. Furthermore, variation can occur frominadvertent error in measuring procedures, differences in themanufacture, source, or purity of the ingredients employed to make thecompositions or carry out the methods, and the like. In one aspect, theterm “about” means within 10% of the reported numerical value. Inanother aspect, the term “about” means within 5% of the reportednumerical value. Yet, in another aspect, the term “about” means within10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1% of the reported numerical value.

It will also be understood that when an element, such as a layer,region, or substrate is referred to as being “on” or “over” anotherelement, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elementscan also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly on” or “directly over” “on and in direct contact with”another element, there are no intervening elements present, and theelement is in contact with another element.

It will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements can bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments described. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdescribed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for forming a semiconductor device, themethod comprising: forming a channel layer on a substrate; depositing agate dielectric on the channel layer; removing an exposed portion of thegate dielectric to expose a first source/drain region and a secondsource/drain region of the channel layer; forming a first source/draincontact on the first source/drain region and a second source/draincontact on the second source/drain region; forming a cap layer over thefirst source/drain contact and the second source/drain contact; formingspacers adjacent to sidewalls of the first source/drain contact and thesecond source/drain contact; and depositing a carbon material on anexposed portion of the gate dielectric.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: patterning a mask on the gate dielectric prior toremoving the exposed portion of the gate dielectric; and removing themask after forming the cap layer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theforming spacers adjacent to sidewalls of the source/drain contactscomprises: depositing a layer of spacer material on exposed portions ofthe gate dielectric, the first source/drain contact, the secondsource/drain contact, and the cap layer; and removing portions of thelayer of spacer material to form the spacers.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the carbon material includes a carbon nanotube.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the carbon nanotube is formed by a chemicallyself-assembled carbon nanotube formation process.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the spacers are arranged on the gate dielectric.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the carbon material partially forms a gatestack on the gate dielectric.